Barrel-Aged Cocktails

Decoded: The Latest Booze Trend

Aging At Home

Aging mixed drinks can be labor-intensive. Waiting three or more months and setting aside a crap-ton of booze before you can even have a drink? C'mon! Fortunately, for at-home drinkers, technology and the internet have come to the rescue. Small three- and five-liter barrels are increasingly available through sites like oakbarrelsltd.com and thebarrelmill.com, reducing costs, storage requirements and wait time (more oak-to-alcohol surface exposure speeds things up). DIY aging kits, like the setup offered by men's gifting site Bespoke Post, make the whole operation that much easier.

Distilleries are also getting in on the at-home act: Oregon's Craft Distillers ages and bottles four ready-to-drink cocktails featuring the spirits it markets (The Saratoga is a bright, smooth blend of brandy, whiskey and vermouth). New York's Tuthilltown Spirits sells a barrel-aging cocktail kit for $12.50, not unlike the Bespoke Post setup, with a glass bottle, charred and honeycombed oak mini-stave and detailed instructions. And Copper Fox distillery in Virginia sells the Wasmund's Barrel Kit, which includes a two-liter mini barrel and two cask-strength bottles of the distillery's single malt or rye whiskey. Increase the depth and complexity of the whiskey itself, or slug it back while batching your martinis for aging.

"One of the defining characters of all this is that you put in, say, three ingredients and get one out," says Greenbaum, who prefers to focus on previously un-aged spirits like gin and white dog whiskey for more dramatic results. "It's almost feels like you've made a new spirit you can drink or use as a base."

Hints And Tips For Barrel Aging

If using an actual barrel, soak it in water for a few hours to seal it. Otherwise all your booze spills out.

Batch cocktails in advance to control proportions. You can always drink the leftovers.

Avoid using citrus, eggs or dairy, which can spoil. Add these ingredients after the spirits and liqueurs have aged sufficiently.

Taste frequently: What can taste off and woody one day can be rich and perfect a week or two later.

When you decide the drink is ready, filter the liquid through cheesecloth into a glass jar or pitcher. It will stop the aging process and keep indefinitely.